ST. PAUL, Minn. — Andrei Kuzmenko shone brightly with two goals and an assist, leading the Calgary Flames to a narrow 5-4 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Saturday night.
Alongside Kuzmenko, Rasmus Andersson contributed a power-play goal, with Martin Pospisil and Clark Bishop also adding to the Flames’ tally. Goaltender Dustin Wolf played a significant role by making 21 saves throughout the match.
Late in the game, Minnesota’s Mats Zuccarello netted his 12th goal 27 seconds before the final whistle, bringing the Wild within one point. However, they could not equalize as time ran out.
The Wild’s scoring came from Joel Eriksson Ek, Marcus Foligno, and Frederick Gaudreau, while Marco Rossi supported his teammates with three assists. In goal, Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 24 shots but could not lead his team to victory. This loss was the Wild’s fifth in their last six outings.
A notable achievement occurred for Fleury, as he surpassed the legendary Patrick Roy to become the goaltender with the second-most minutes played in NHL history, reaching 60,215 minutes two minutes before the end of the second period.
In terms of performance highlights, Calgary’s Wolf was not as formidable as in his previous two games, yet his presence contributed to the Flames, who secured their third consecutive win. Meanwhile, Minnesota’s ongoing struggles with their penalty kill—ranked as the third-worst in the league prior to the game—became evident again as they allowed seven goals on power plays over the last six games.
A significant moment in the match was when Fleury made a crucial save against Pospisil during a 2-on-0 breakaway. Despite that effort, the Wild could not regroup after the initial save, allowing Pospisil to score at 12:28 of the second period, granting the Flames a 2-1 lead. This goal marked Pospisil’s third of the season and his first since November 23 against the same opponent.
One statistical highlight favored the Flames, who dominated in faceoff wins, achieving a season-best success rate of 60.3% in that area.
Looking ahead, Calgary is set to face Winnipeg on Sunday, while Minnesota will take on Chicago the same day.
